Scum vs Scunge - What's the difference?
scum | scunge |
(uncountable) A layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid (especially molten metal or water).
(uncountable) A greenish water vegetation (such as algae), usually found floating on the surface of ponds
The topmost liquid layer of a cesspool or septic tank.
(uncountable, slang, chiefly US) semen
(countable, derogatory, slang) A reprehensible person or persons.
(countable, derogatory, slang) police officer(s)
To remove the layer of scum from (a liquid etc.).
To remove (something) as scum.
*1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.vii:
*:Some scumd the drosse, that from the metall came; / Some stird the molten owre with ladles great.
To become covered with scum.
*1769 , Elizabeth Raffald, The Experienced English House-keeper , pp.321-322:
*:Take the smallest Cucumbers you can get, and as free from Spots as possible, put them into a strong Salt and Water for nine or ten Days, or 'till they are quite Yellow, and stir them twice a Day at least, or they will scum over, and grow soft
(obsolete) To scour (the land, sea etc.).
*:
*:SOo by Merlyns aduys ther were sente fore rydars to skumme the Countreye / & they mette with the fore rydars of the north / and made hem to telle whiche wey the hooste cam / and thenne they told it to Arthur / and by kyng Ban and Bors counceill they lete brenne and destroye alle the contrey afore them there they shold ryde
*Milton
*:Wandering up and down without certain seat, they lived by scumming those seas and shores as pirates.
(obsolete) To gather together, as scum.
*1815 , Rudolf Ackerman and Frederic Shoberl, The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics :
*:A great majority of the members are scummed together from the Jacobinical dregs of former periods of the revolution.
To startscum or savescum.
(uncountable, slang) Muck, scum, dirt, dirtiness; also used attributively .
* 1986 , Gary Crew, The Inner Circle ,
* 2005 , David Meurer, If You Want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen ,
* 2006 , Kate Holden, In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction ,
(countable, slang) A scrounger; one who habitually borrows.
(countable, slang) A dirty or untidy person; one who takes no pride in their appearance.
* 2008 , Pam Withers, Mountainboard Maniacs ,
(countable, slang, derogatory) A scoundrel; a worthless or despicable person.
* 1966 , Comment: A New Zealand Quarterly Review , Volume 8,
To mark with scunge , to begrime, to besmirch.
* 2002 , Dennis McDougal, Mary Murphy, Blood Cold: Fame, Sex, and Murder in Hollywood ,
To slink about; to sneak, to insinuate.
* 1846 , author not visible, The Disruption: A Scottish Tale of Recent Times , R. M. Walker (printer), Edinburgh,
* 1948 , Old Edinburgh Club, The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club , Volume 26,
* 2011 , C. J. Bull, When The Spirit Calls ,
To scrounge; to borrow.
* 1980 , Victorian Parliament, Parliamentary debates (Hansard) , Volume 353,
* 2011 , Nichola Garvey, Beating the Odds , HarperCollins Australia,
As nouns the difference between scum and scunge
is that scum is (uncountable) a layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid (especially molten metal or water) while scunge is (uncountable|slang) muck, scum, dirt, dirtiness; also used attributively .As verbs the difference between scum and scunge
is that scum is to remove the layer of scum from (a liquid etc) while scunge is to mark with scunge , to begrime, to besmirch.scum
English
Alternative forms
* (l)Noun
Synonyms
* (layer of impurities) dross, impurities * (layer of impurities on molten metal) cinder, scoriae, slag * (person considered reprehensible) bastardVerb
(scumm)Anagrams
* *scunge
English
Noun
(en noun)unnumbered page,
- Every saucepan he owned was piled there, caked with unidentifiable scunge .
page 67,
- We asked questions like, “Do you think we can take a blowtorch to burn that green scunge out of the refrigerator without wrecking the insulation?”
page 130,
- Fitzroy was the across-the-river equivalent of St Kilda. Another ragged, working-class suburb that had become bohemian and then been discovered and slicked up. There was plenty of scunge left, however; in the back streets the smell of dope wafted from the houses.
page 120,
- “You four scunges need to clean yourselves up,? Jarrad announced — ironic given his own personal hygiene, Jake thought, which was less than impeccable.
page 14,
- The press officer was glad to get me onto the helicopter back to the airbase, as he obviously thought I must be a bit of a scunge asking political questions, when it was my job to report on how well the war was going and how the North was being held.
Synonyms
* (muck) grime, muck, scum * (scrounger) bludger * dag * (scoundrel) scoundrelVerb
page 79,
- “I was scunged . ... I hated myself, hated everything, felt useless and worthless, had no friends, no love, no career, no education, no parents and no tomorrows. It all added up to nothing.”
page 341,
- Neither will ye scunge after the gentry like M?Quirkie, and keep your creed in your hand ready to swap it for ony ither that may happen to be mair profitable.
page 38,
- Seizing him in his arms he ran into a shop, and seizing a coil of rope, measured off five or six yards, and fastening this round the dog?s neck, set him down, and giving him a few hearty kicks — ‘Hame wi? you, ye scunging tyke, hame!’ and thus discovered the laird?s dwelling-place.
page 79,
- Each time he moved, the old dog that lay along his side would groan, complaining at its disturbance until Charlie's fingers scunged into the German shepherd?s long hair reassuring him with his familiar fussing.
page 1449,
- The Australian Labor Party in Victoria had a very successful result. Members of the National Party are scunging around trying to win Ballarat!
unnumbered page,
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